Apparatus for raising railroad tracks



July 4, 1961 Filed Dec. 3, 1958 R. G. KERSHAW 2,990,786

APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILROAD TRACKS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 INVENTOR.

Payee Gkers haw July 4, 1961 R. G. KERSHAW APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILROAD TRACKS Filed Dec. 3, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 r"; 1 F I I ha |6--"I i as: I

I :22: 22 I l l 5 q I 1 0 4:2 "I I l 5?. I l I i 44. 3 42 48 l I -Fw l INVENTOR. Payee G Kershaw H Horne vs July 4, 1961 R. ca. KERSHAW 2,990,786

APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILROAD TRACKS Filed Dec. 3, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Royce G- Kershaw BY M, M

A'l'i-o rncys United States PatentO 2,990,786 APPARATUS FOR RAISING RAILROAD TRACKS Royce G. Kershaw,

P.0. Drawer 1711, Montgomery, Ala.

. Filed Dec, 3,1958, Ser. No. 777,976. 9 Claims. (Cl. 104-7) This invention relates to apparatus for raising railroad tracks from the roadbed of a railroad and more P311219 It is a further object of my invention to provide rail dogs in track raising apparatus that are positioned auto-- matically in gripping relation beneath the rails through the raising and lowering of the hydraulic jack means and without the actuation of any controls other than the controls for the jack means.

KershawlManufactui'ing Co.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide jack operated rail dogs that are positioned in retracted position beneath the lower end of the jack means so that downward movement of the jack means force the dogs beneath therails and retain the dogs in position beneath the base of the rails so long as thejack means are in lowered position.

Heretofore, in apparatus for raising railroad tracks, it has been common to engagethe head or ball of the rails with the rail dogs to lift the track. With these previous arrangements, it has not been possible to engage the rails at the joints connecting adjacent rails as the splice or, joint bars extending between adjacent rails are dis 1 posed adjacent the web of the rails and obstruct the rail dogs. Further, it has been very difficult with rail dogs gripping the ball of the rails to obtain a tight connection with the rails as the underside of the head of the rails is sloping and the rail dogs tend to slide outwardly from therails. It is highly desirable to have a tight gripping action between the rails and the rail dogs when the track is raised as relative movement between the vehicle and the rails is apt to occur if the rails are not tightly gripped by rail gripping means, especially if a tarnping operation is being performed while the track is lifted.

The present invention'comprises track raising apparatus inwhich rail dogs tightly grip the flat underside of the base of the rails. The rail dogs have pointed ends and are pivotally mounted in retracted position in contact with the lower end of the jack means so that upon downward movement of the jack means the rail dogs are pushed under the base of the rails by the jack means. Even though the ballast is firmly packed, the ends of the rail dogs dig in the ballast under the force of the jack means and are positioned under the base of the rails. Further, the jack means are disposed directly adjacent the rail dogs in the lifted position of the track and thereby retain the rail dogs in position under the base of the rails without any danger of the rail dogs slipping from beneath the f rails.

Only a single manual control is required for the com: bined operation of my raildogs and jack means. Upon actuation of the manual control in one direction, the jack means move downwardly and push the rail dogs under the rails and, at a predetermined position, automatically actuate means for lifting the rail dogs actuation of the manual control to lift the jack means, the rail dogs are automatically released from the rails and pivot inwardly of the vehicle to retracted position upon continued upward movement of the jack means.

Likewise, upon Apparatus embodying features of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of my invention shown mounted on the railway vehicle adapted for tamping-ballast;

FIG. 2'is a front end elevational view of my invention mounted on a railway vehicle and showing the rail dogs. in retracted, position in contact with the lower ends of thejack means;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged end elevational view,

certain parts shown in section, of one of my rail dogs shown in position under a'rail and before the rail dog is moved vertically to grip the underside of the rail;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the rail dog shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 and showing the elf-center relationship of the rail dogs; and,

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing generally the cam means and hydraulic system for operating one of my rail dogs.

Referring now to the drawings, I show a railway vehicle indicated generally by thenumeral 10 having a main frame 11 mounted on wheels 12 for riding on rails 13 of a railroad track. A tamping mechanism indicated in dotted lines on FIGS. 1 and 2 at 16 is mounted on my railway vehicle 10 to indicate a specific use for which the present invention is adaptable, it being understood that myinvention could be used for lifting rails on any desired railway vehicle 10.

The main frame 11 comprism longitudinal I-beams 17 and 18 mounted on each side of vehicle 10. Mounted on the upper side of I-beam 18 is a rail dog frame indicated generally by the numeral 19 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) adapted for vertical movement relative to main frame 11. Only half of rail dog frame 19 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, it bein-gunderstood that the other half is identical to that shown. The rail dog frame 19 comprises a cross beam 21 having a bracket 22 secured to each end thereof.

A pair of threaded studs 23' is secured to the upper surface of I-beam 18 and adjusting nuts 24 engage studs 23. An extension 26 secured to the cross beam 21 and bracket 22 extends outwardly from each side thereof and the studs 23 extend through openings in the extensions 26. Thus, it is evident that upon the adjustment of nuts 24, rail dog frame 19 may be moved relative to main frame 11 and thereby adapt my apparatus for use on rails of different heights.

A cylinder 27 is pivotally mounted by a pin 30 to side plates 33 of bracket 22 and has a piston rod 28 extending downwardly therefrom. The lower end of piston rod 28 is connected by a pin 29 to a pair of links 31 which are pivotally connected to side plates 33 of bracket 21 along a central axis indicated at 34. A spacer block 36 is positioned between links 31 and is secured thereto by means of bolt 37. A rail dog indicated generally by the numeral 38 is pivotally mounted between links 31 on pin 40 and is adapted to pivot freely relative to links 31. The central axis of pin 40 is indicated by the dotted line 41 and as shown in FIG. 3, the central axis indicated at 41 is positioned off center from the central axis of the links 31 indicated at 34. A book 39 having a flat upper surface is provided on rail dog 38 and is adapted to at its upper end to cross beam 21 and at its lower end Patented July 4, 1961 p to pin 43 secured to rail dog 38 A roller 44 is mounted for'rotation on the inner side ofrail'dog" 38.

A jack cylinder 46 is mounted on each side of railway vehicle 10 and has a downwardly projecting pistonrod 47. An end plate 48 is secured to the lower end of pisrail'13, it is retained in such position so long as piston rod 4 47 is in its downward position as roller 44 is in contact with piston rod 47 and the rail dog 38 cannot move inwardly or slip from under the base of the rail. This is an important safety advantage.

In theposition of the dog ss'in FIG. 3, the'dog has not been moved vertically to engage'the underside of the rail 13 in locked position. To lift the rail dog 38 after it has been pushed under the rail 13 by the downward movement of piston rod 47', and referring also to FIG. 5 in which "the raildog 38' is pivotally mounted on the axis indicated by numeral 41, it is evident that upon actuation of'cylinder 27 to move the piston rod 28 downwardly, the links 31 will move downwardly about'the axis indicated by line 34 and will liftthe rail dog 38 into contac'fwith the undersideof the rail 13. Upon the pivotal movement "of links 31 the rail dog 38 moves about axis 41' relative to the axis 34- of the rail dogs. Upon rnovemerit of the piston rod 28 'upwardly,'the rail dog 38 will be moved downwardly away from the underside of the rail'13.

Referring now to FIG. 6 in' which the means for op crating one of 'my rail dogs '38 isshow'n diagrammatically,

a manual three position valve 51 is shown forcontrolling the' jack' cylinder 46 through fluid unessz and 53/ A four-way cam operated,'sprin'g offset valve 54 is provided 'to 'cont'rol rail dog cylinder 27 through "flow lines 56 and 57. The movement of valve 54 'is controlled mechanically by a cam'roller58 which is disposed to operate against piston rod '47" of jack cylinder 46. Cam roller 58 :is an integral part of valve 54 and "spring '59 urges'roller'58and valve 54" toward piston rod 47' as shown in' FIG; 6. When 'jack cylinder 46 is actuated downwardly and after rail dog 38 is positioned under the rail13 (see FIG; 3), the upper'end of piston rod 47 passes'beneath cam roller58 permitting the spring loaded cam roller 58 to shift along with the shifting of valve 54:" Uponshifting of valve 54' to the left viewing FIG. 6, pistonrod 28 is lowered to pull rail dog 38upwardly against the underside of rail 13.

Upon'raising piston rod 47, the upper end thereof cams the cam roller 58 and valve 54 to the position shown in F1656. Thus, the fiuid'flow to cylinder 27 is reversed to 'raisepiston rod 28 and'release rail dog 38 from"gripping contact with the undersi'de'of rail 13. Spring 42" pulls rail dog 38 from under rail 13' upon further upward movement of piston rod 47 so' that'roller' 44 contacts the" underside of plate 48 when piston 'rod 47 is in its retracted position.

In' operation, manual valve 51 is actuated'to movejack cylinders'46'downwardly. When jack cylinders 46 reach a predetermined downward position after the rail dogs '38" have been pushed under the rails thereby, valve 54 shifts" and results'in the raising of hooks 39 of rail dogs 38 into locking engagement with the underside of rails '13. Rail dogs 38 remain in this-position until jack cylinders 46 are lifted.

From the foregoing,- it is clear that I have provided a single manual control foractuating jack cylinders 46 and rail'dog cylinders 27. No separate controls are necessary to actuate the rail dogs 27 and they are actuated automatically at a predetermined position by the move ment ofjack cylinders 46. Therail dogs 38 are forced or pusheddownwardly under the rails 13' by 'pis'tonrods Willbe obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not'so' limited, butissusceptible'of"various'changes and modifications without departing from thespirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended ms,

WhatI claim is:

1. In apparatus for raising the rails of 'a railroad track:

from a rpadbed, a vehicle having a frame and wheels supporting the same on the rails, a fluid pressure cylinder mounted on the frame and having a piston rodtextend ing downwardly to exert thrust against the roadbed, a rail dog pivotally mounted on the frame and contacting the under-J side of the piston rod in the retracted position thereof, said raildog 'having a generally pointed end and being I pushed downwardly by the piston rod under the base of .the rail upon downward movement of the'piston rod, and

said rail dog contacting the piston rod after it has been pushed under the rail thereby preventing the rail dog from moving from beneath the rail while the-piston rod is in its downward position in contact with the roadbed.

2. In apparatus for raising the railsfof a railroad track from a roadbed, a vehicle having a frame and wheels supporting the same on the rails,'fluid pressure means having relatively movable parts' mou nted substantially vertically L on the frame with one movable part extending downwardly to exert thrust against the roadbed, a rail dog pivotally mounted on the frame adjacent said one'movable part and disposed to contact the underside of a rail adjacent there to, saiddog'being mounted for pivotal movement beneath the'rail upon downward movement? of said movable part and being retained under the rail by the movable part until the movable partis raised, and means pulling said dog"upwardlyrelativ to the vehicle whe ifsaiddogispositioned beneath the -rail, said'means being actuated automatically u on said movable partre'ac'hing a predetermined downward position whereby saiddog is pulled upwardly tightly against the underside of therail.

3. In'lifting apparatusfor raising the rails of a railroad track from a roadbed, 'a vehicle having a frame and wheels 'suppo rtingthe frame onfthe' rails fluid pressure means having'relatively movable partsmounted substant-ially"ve'rtically on the frame with one movable part adapted to extend downwardly to exert thrust against the roadbedfa rail dog pivotally'mounted'on the frameadiacent said onmovabl'e part'and adapted to contact the underside'ofa railadjac'ent thereto, said dog being" mojunted'for' pivotal movement beneath the rail upon downward movement of -said movable part and for move 1 .mentfrom beneath 'therail u on upward movement of said movable part, means pulling'said' dog upwardly 'relative to the vehicle'when it is positioned beneath the rail,

said means'being' actuated'to pull said 'dog' upwardly tightly againstthe unde'rside'of the rail upon said movable part reachinga predetermined downward position, and said meanslbeing actuated to release said dog from com tactwith the'undersideof the rail upon said movable part reaching a predetermined upward position after'its downward movement whereby said rail dog may be piv-' oted from beneath'the rail.

4. "In apparatus for lifting the rails of a railroad track from a r'oadbed,'a vehicle ha'vin'ga frame and wheels supporting the'frame on the'rails, fluid pressure means having relativelyf'movable parts mounted substantially vertically'on the" frame with one movable part adapted to extenddownwa'rdlyto exert thrust against the roadbed whereby said'frame is moved vertically, a rail dog pivotally r'nou'nted on 'thefram'e' adjacent said one movable part and being pivoted between'retr'ac ted position in conlowered position beneath the rail, resilient means urging said rail dog upwardly to retracted position in contact with one said movable part, said rail dog being pivoted beneath the rail by said movable part upon downward movement of said movable part against the urging of said resilient means and being pivoted from beneath the rail by said resilient means upon the upward movement of said movable part, said movable part engaging and securing the rail dog beneath the rail when in engagement with the roadbed, means pulling said dog upwardly relative to the vehicle when it is positioned beneath the rail, said means being actuated upon said movable part reaching a predetermined downward position to pull said dog upwardly tightly against the underside of the rail and being actuated upon said movable part reaching a predetermined upward position to lower said dog from contact with the underside of the rail whereby said dog may be pivoted by said resilient means to retracted position.

5. Apparatus defined in claim 4 further characterized in that a roller is positioned on said dog and is adapted to contact the underside of said one movable part in the retracted position of the dog whereby said dog may be lowered through said roller upon lowering of said one movable part.

6. In apparatus for lifting the rails of a railroad track from a roadbed, a vehicle having a frame and wheels supporting the frame on the rails, a pair of fluid pressure cylinders mounted substantially vertically on the frame with the piston rods thereof adapted to extend downwardly to exert thrust against the roadbed whereby said frame is moved vertically, rail dogs pivotally mounted on the frame and adapted to be pivoted between retracted position in contact with the lower end of the piston rods and lowered position beneath the rails, said rail dogs adapted to be pivoted beneath the rails upon downward movement of said piston rods and to be pivoted from beneath the rails upon upward movement of said piston rods, means pulling said dogs upwardly relative to the vehicle when they are positioned beneath the rails, said means being actuated automatically upon said piston rods reaching a predetermined downward position to pull said dogs upwardly tightly against the underside of the rails and being actuated automatically upon said piston rods reaching a predetermined upward position to lower said dogs from contact with the underside of said rails.

7. Apparatus defined in claim 6 in which resilient means urge said rail dogs upwardly to retracted position in contact with said one movable part.

8. In apparatus for lifting the rails of a railroad track from a roadbed, a vehicle having a frame and wheels supporting the frame on the rails, reciprocable fluid pressure means having relatively movable parts mounted substantially vertically on the frame with one relatively movabe part adapted to extend downwardly to exert thrust against the roadbed, a rail dog pivotally mounted on the vehicle generally over a rail and adapted to be pivoted between retracted position above the rail and lowered position beneath the rail, and a second reciprocable fluid pressure means mounted on said vehicle and having relatively movable parts, a link operatively connected at one end to one of said relatively movable parts of said second fluid pressure means and pivotally connected at its other end to said frame, said rail dog being pivotally connected to said link for free pivoting relative to said link and having a pivotal axis offset horizontally from the pivotal axis of said link on said frame, the pivoting of said link moving the pivotal axis of said rail dog in a generally vertical direction whereby upon actuation of said second fluid pressure means said link is pivoted and moves the rail dog in a vertical direction thereby allowing said rail dog to be pulled tightly against the underside of the rail when in lowered position beneath the rail.

9. Apparatus defined in claim 8 in which cam means is actuated by said one movable part of the first mentioned fluid pressure means at predetermined positions to control the actuation of said second reciprocablie fluid pressure means and the vertical movements of said rail dog thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,602,023 Higginson Oct. 5, 1926 2,050,179 Holt et al. Aug. 4, 1936 2,587,324 Hursh et a1 Feb. 26, 1952 2,693,769 Hulehy Nov. 9, 1954 2,736,268 Yoke Feb. 28, 1956 2,760,440 Kershaw Aug. 28, 1956 2,799,230 Jensch July 16, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 201,642 Austria Jan. 10, 1959 1,076,144 France Apr. 21, 1954 663,606 France Apr. 9, 1929 794,235 Great Britain Apr. 30, 1958 

